Store Owner Installs $350K of Surveillance to Stop Frivolous Lawsuits

Supermarket owner Rafael Cuellar from Passaic, NJ, reports that he had to spend $350,000 to install 69 surveillance cameras, recording devices, and video storage banks in order to stop fake “slip and fall” insurance claims against his store. It’s a cost that just adds to the cost of living for everyone and is a perfect example of the abuse of the legal system that we see every day with this avalanche of frivolous lawsuits.

While the cameras also help Mr. Cuellar track and prevent shoplifting–another expensive problem in retail–the main purpose of the cameras, he says, is to stop abusive, frivolous lawsuits lodged by unscrupulous crooks pretending to be customers.

“Yesterday alone we had a consumer who came back in [the store] and claimed she fell,” Mr. Cuellar recounts in the video, Supermarket Swindle (seen below). “Once the loss-prevention director said, ‘Let’s pull it up on the camera,’ she goes, ‘No, I just twisted my ankle.’ And the story changed all of the sudden.”

Cuellar spent half a million dollars to prevent being inundated with these frivolous lawsuits. Imagine what he could have done with that money if he didn’t need to waste it in such a manner. He’d have been able to expand his business, advertise more, hire more people, or even do more for the community.

“Being an entrepreneur, you always want to continue to grow,” Cuellar said. “But I do think twice about it, because of the things I can’t control.”

This isn’t just a problem in Passaic, New Jersey, either. This is a problem seen throughout the country. Imagine the billions wasted a year to attempt to prevent frivolous lawsuits and just imagine what better uses to which that money can be put.

Warner Todd Huston

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago-based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com, BigJournalsim.com and all Breitbart News' other sites, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, and many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs across the country to discuss his opinion editorials and current events as well as appearing on TV networks such as CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network, and various Chicago-based news programs.
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